Bel: Sale of Leerdammer
Suresnes & Laval,
30th September
2021,
6.00 P.M.
Bel and Lactalis complete sale of
Leerdammer® and
related rights
- Bel completes its sale to
Lactalis of a business comprising
Royal Bel Leerdammer NL, Bel Italia, Bel Deutschland,
Leerdammer and all related
rights, plus Bel Shostka
Ukraine.
This
transaction also includes an agreement for
Lactalis to sell Bel group
products in Germany, Italy and Ukraine.
- Lactalis, dairy
products world no.
1,
acquires
Leerdammer, one of
Europe’s most iconic cheese
brands. The transaction is a
perfect fit for
Lactalis’ strategic
priorities, which focus on
top-quality product
development. The
company aims to boost Leerdammer’s international
growth and continue developing the brand.
- Bel, a
market leading cheese brand owner and
major player in
healthy snacking, now reaffirms its independent family
business model to ramp up rollout of its strategy
with a view to
boosting growth
of its three complementary
market segments
- dairy, fruits
and plant-based.
Bel Group and Lactalis Group today announced the
completion of the sale to Lactalis of a business comprising Royal
Bel Leerdammer NL, Bel Italia, Bel Deutschland, the Leerdammer
brand and all related rights, plus Bel Shostka Ukraine. These have
all been transferred to Lactalis by Sicopa, a wholly-owned Bel
subsidiary, in return for 1,591,472 Bel shares (23.16% equity
stake) held by Lactalis. All the transaction’s pre-conditions have
been met, including a European Commission unconditional merger
approval received on 26 August 20211.
Bel Group Chairman and CEO Antoine Fievet said:
“I am delighted about the success of this transaction. For a start,
it opens new doors for both the Shostka and Leerdammer brands and I
want to thank all their staff and wish them all the best for the
future because they have built the brands’ success over the last 20
years. This is a new step for us, underpinning our independent
family business model, a key factor in our success from our
company’s very beginnings. Now we can put all our weight behind
rolling out our strategy with a well-balanced dairy, fruit and
plant-based offering, in line with our corporate mission to
champion healthier and responsible food for all.”
Lactalis Group Chairman Emmanuel Besnier
confirmed: “By acquiring Leerdammer and Shostka, we have now
completed our offering with a range of food brands that consumers
know and love. We want to turn the European Leerdammer brand into a
global one by tapping into our worldwide reach. We are delighted to
welcome new staff backed by their cheese-making pedigree into our
Group.”
Lactalis, dairy
products world no. 1
Lactalis strengthens
its cheese business
In line with its strategic goals to develop
healthy dairy products for an expanding mass-market and to build on
its longstanding dairy know-how, Lactalis seeks to boost Leerdammer
by tapping into its existing international facilities.
The transaction also offers good growth
prospects in Italy and Germany by expanding the family firm’s
European footprint. Lactalis gains a foothold in the Dutch cheese
market backed by two production plants and a local collection
facility. The Shostka acquisition further allows Lactalis to expand
its Ukrainian business, where it has operated for the last 25
years. Some one thousand Dutch, German, Italian and Ukrainian
employees will join Lactalis.
Bel
Group, a
major player in healthy snacking
Ongoing strategic rollout and greater
independence
Selling business holdings including the
Leerdammer brand is in line with Bel Group strategy, which aims to
take its business beyond cheese products to bolster its positioning
as a major healthy snacking player. The transaction gives Bel
further opportunities to advance its product offering strategy on
its three further key market segments, over the medium-term achieve
balanced revenues between dairy, fruits and plant-based, while also
stepping up moves into high-growth future markets like Asia-Pacific
and North America.
The transaction, which involves Bel buying back
shares held by Lactalis, also gives Bel family shareholders further
funds to invest in the Group’s future growth and bolster market
share, thereby testifying to the independent family business
model.
Financial and legal
advisors
BNP Paribas, Perella Weinberg Partners and
Oppenheimer have acted as Bel Group’s financial advisors and
Linklaters LLP has acted as legal advisor.
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP and Bredin
Prat have acted as Lactalis Group’s legal advisors.
Bel press
contactsHavas Paris - Sarah
Duparcsarah.duparc@havas.com - +33(0)1.58.47.82.06 /
+33(0)6.46.72.39.99
Lactalis Group press
contactsValérie Le Chevillier, Group Communications
Directorvalerie.lechevillier@lactalis.fr - +33(0)7 63 19 60 82
Christophe Piednoël, Senior VP Communications and Public
Relationschristophe.piednoel@lactalis.fr - +33(0)2 43 59 52 66 /
+33(0)6 15 19 17 55
About
Bel
The Bel Group is a world leader in branded
cheese and a major player in the healthy snack market. Its
portfolio of differentiated and internationally recognized brands
include such products as The Laughing Cow®, Kiri®, Mini Babybel®,
Boursin®, Pom’Potes®, and GoGo squeeZ®, as well as some 20 local
brands. Together, these brands helped the Group generate sales of
€3.46 billion in 2020.
12,510 employees in some 40 subsidiaries around
the world contribute to rolling out the Group's mission to champion
healthier and responsible food for everyone. Bel products are made
at 33 production sites and distributed in nearly 120 countries.
About
Lactalis Group
Lactalis Group is the world’s no. 1 dairy group
and a French family business founded in 1933 in Laval. Backed by
operations in 51 countries and 266 worldwide dairy and cheese
production plants, its 85,000 staff convert milk into cheese,
consumer milk, yoghurt, butter, cream, dairy ingredients and
nutrition. Serving the daily lives of millions of households,
Lactalis is famed for iconic brands such as Président, Galbani and
Parmalat and strives to ensure it sustainably upholds milk
expertise as world no. 1 AOP provider.
------------------
1 As stated in the 27 August 2021 Bel press release.
- Bel Lactalis_Sale_Leerdammer_30092021_US
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